After a short hiatus due to the lack of a home, Alterspace continued with a decentralized exhibition of new work on the streets of Chicago. For this show, we grouped together two artists whose projects challenge the assumptions of dominion over public space. Chicago-based artist Mike B. and the first Alterspace resident-artist Soni G. (from Tokyo) inserted their presence onto the urban landscape on locations disclosed on the day of the event. The "opening reception" for this show, which happened in Logan Square on December 10th was little more than points marked on a map, which went out to our e-mailing list and was posted on our website. Throughout the short duration of this exhibition, the installations and the public interaction with them was documented, which was the basis for the centralized closing reception at Busker, who graciously allowed Alterspace to crash on their couch for the night.

After months of hard work in his underground laboratories, Mike B. and his army of pixelated creatures
mobilized. This elite group of ex-digital deviants have abandoned their constructed worlds and transcended into the physical realm in order to liberate one of Chicago's landmarks from its static existence. This purposeful colonization transforms the viewer into a participant, advancing through stages of impending danger, and wandering into a new space with revitalized interest.

Coming to Chicago for the first time, it was a privilege to present the work of artist Soni G. A legend in the streets of Tokyo where she calls home, Soni has embarked upon a tour across the United States, and Chicago is her first stop. For the Disputed Territories show, She erected a memorial in honor of the forgotten casualties of technological innovation. Referencing the ritual of burning paper representations of consumer objects, as practiced in regions of Asia, her installation pays homage to an entire generation of home electronics, the VCR. As home entertainment continues to redefine
itself, these machines can expect nothing more than a future of obsolescence, planned by it's creators and abandoned by its owners... our city streets have become graveyards for this homeless population of analog corpses.

For the closing event, Tamas Kemenczy of Busker created a virtual recreation of the show. In his Quake 3 modification, which was projected on a wall during the exhibition, the show came to life as the player was attack by an endless onslaught of pixelated crabs. Tamas recreated his own space as the setting for the game, and animated Mike B.'s crab character to attack the intruders.